Oh, Your Gracious
by LittleKrus
Summary: Princess Shion White has fled the White Kingdom, avoiding a proposed marriage. Along her way, she meets an egotistical street rat who seems to give her experiences she'd never gone through before. But what will happen next? FerrisWheelShipping. AU.
1. Chapter One

**Oh, Your Gracious_  
~ Chapter One: Decision ~_**

* * *

Princess Shion White sat lazily at the edge of her bed — the soft white sheets sinking gently under her weight — as she locked strands of hair with her fingers, idle. At her side, a Zorua laid groggily, eyes closed. Its body bobbled up and down, moving along rhythmically with its breathing, as if enjoying the serenity in the whitish bedroom. It would make occasional snores but the princess just gazed at the pure white ceilings instead, letting out a deep sigh; boredom was written everywhere on her face. She was lonely; she had no friends, except for the sleeping Zorua, whom she'd named Kira.

To everyone else, Kira seemed more like a pet than a friend, given to her as a present on her fifth birthday. But to Shion herself, Kira _was_ a friend; one who had accompanied her since young; one who was being pampered with luxurious food and comfort, just like the princess herself.

But life as a princess had never been fun; not when you only had one Pokémon as a friend; and definitely not when you were bring restricted. As a royal, she must be elegant, graceful, prim and proper — at least, that was what everyone had thought. But this particular princess thought differently. She wanted freedom. She wanted excitement. Overall, she just wanted to be herself. But she couldn't — for she was a princess. And she hated herself for being one. She knew that many girls were in jealousy eyes of her royal status, but she wished for nothing more than to be rid of it. If given the choice, she would rather be a simple girl leading a simple life, and not being restricted with everything she did.

Her parents had always been busy with work and never paid her much attention. They never allowed her to leave the castle either, not unless she was with her servant, Bianca. But even if she _was_ given the permission to leave, she must always be mindful of her actions. No, in fact, she must be mindful of it at all times, including at home.

Home: the restrictive, dreaded castle. Bianca would always be by her side, helping her with all the necessities and keep watch of her actions for her. But the matter about whether the princess appreciated it or not was questionable. Sure, Bianca was just doing her job of helping her highness with the cleanup — applying exotic lotions on her hands to keep them fair, painting her nails to keep them pretty and such — but she had this bad habit of being way too protective. But perhaps, that was part of her job as well.

Unfortunately, to Shion, Bianca was a kind yet _annoying_ servant. Whenever she'd wanted to do something, Bianca would stop her and add another nagging line of "Oh, no. A princess should not be doing such things" or "No, no. My head will be served if you do that". She knew that Bianca was just trying to help her _act_ like a princess, but she would be more grateful if she had allowed her some personal space. Never once was she alone for more than five minutes — because Bianca would make sure of that.

"Princess, King Alder has returned!" Bianca's rowdy voice could be heard from across the room even before she flung opened the door. And when she finally did, the door swung to the sides with a loud slam, causing Shion to jerk slightly. The servant could hardly contain her excitement; her eyes were literally glittering with stars. "Please get ready. It's time to greet your highness!"

Shion gave a slight snort — clearly not delighted to meet her father again — but it was unfortunately caught by Bianca's perfect hearing. "Princess! You shouldn't make such uncouth sounds! You must be—"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I must be graceful," Shion interjected, rolling her eyes. She got to her feet and patted the sleeping Zorua, waking it. "C'mon, Kira." The fox Pokémon gave a soft yawn, stretching its stiffened body, before opening its eyes and following its Trainer towards the mahogany door.

"Wait, princess! You haven't dressed up for the meeting yet!"

Shion ignored Bianca and just strode down the corridor towards the entrance hall, with both Kira and Bianca tailing closely behind her. And true enough, she was not clothed in a proper manner; at least she was not if she was going to welcome back her father from work. Certainly, wearing a plain white gown without any shoes was not called _proper_ for a princess. "I'm just meeting my father. I don't have to wear _that _nice."

"But I—"

"Don't worry. I'll save your head before it gets chopped down," Shion said flatly. She stopped and whipped her head around to face her faithful servant, eyes showing annoyance. Bianca jerked to a stop, raising her hands in surrender, as if afraid to offend her highness any further. And when she did not reply anything, the princess returned to walking.

Bianca sighed as she closed her eyes and stood there motionless, muttering, "But I need to prepare you for our guest..."

******~ ღ ~****  
**

The first thing Shion heard when she entered the hall was this: "Welcome, Prince of the Black Kingdom! I am entrance to see that you've agreed to come and meet my daughter."

"No, you're too kind, your highness," the prince replied, giving a slight bow of respect. "I was afraid that I might not be favored by her."

"Nonsense! You're too perfect as a marriage prospect! I'm sure she will like you for sure!"

_A marriage prospect? Again? This must be like the hundredth one! _Shion mused, narrowing her eyebrows. When the king noticed her presence, he came into an affectionate hug, as if oblivious to his daughter's apparent irritation. "Shion! My darling—" That was, until he saw what she was wearing. "Oh my Arceus! Please get some clothes on!"

Shion tugged the white cloth, motioning it at her father. "This _is _clothes."

"This is _not_. You should dress properly in face of our guest! You _do_ know that he's going to be your future husband right?" King Alder scolded, curving up his lips in gall.

"No, I don't." Truth to be told, she wouldn't even come out if she'd knew that there was a guest; and that guest was none other than her soon-to-be groom. King Alder loved to introduce multiple marriage prospects to his daughter and Shion was clearly _not_ enticed by any of them. She'd envisioned that a marriage would be a blissful one, where one could choose who to love and live with. She'd yearned for a day where she would meet her knight in shining armor and ultimately saved her from boredom... _and_from her unbearable parents. But of course, as a princess, she couldn't.

All decisions had always been made by her parents and her parents' alone; never once had she been given the chance to decide for herself.

"Well now you do." Twitching an eye, the king brushed it off and turned to face the prince. "I apologize on behalf of my daughter's rude behavior. Please wait in the living room while we get her ready."

"It's fine. I think she looks beautiful even in that simple dress," the prince remarked, smiling, enough to show the whitish teeth inside. Shion did not regard his flattery, but instead, she felt disgusted. _He called me beautiful even though we'd never spoken to each other?_

She scanned him — from head to toe. And his outfit was... for a lack of a better word, fanciful. He was brunette-headed, like her. And he wore a white military style jacket with gold cuffs and collar. It was attached with gold and black epaulets. A loose maroon slacks fitted on his waist, with a military style belt to support them. Gold Jacquard sash hung itself over his shoulder and a glamorous golden crown sat on his head to signify his status. With all that attractive outfit, it was hard to say that he was _not_ handsome; Shion would give him that, at least.

The prince approached her and got down on one knee. Gently, he guided her hand and leaned in for a kiss, whispering, "Greetings, Princess Shion. I'm Aswad Black."

Now, Shion felt beyond disgusted; she felt revulsion. Reeling back her hand, she spat, "I did not permit you to call my name."

"Shion! What kind of attitude is _that_?" a shrill, feminine voice snapped. It was her mother, Queen Rayna, who'd just came in from the entrance. "Apologize, NOW!"

But Shion did not obey; she looked to the side and crossed her arms. She would never apologize; she did not do anything wrong. She was just merely showing her resentment and rebellious decision of not wanting to agree to the marriage. But the queen's blood was boiling; she raised a hand, ready to bestow a blow upon the princess's face.

"Please! You'll ruin her porcelain face!" King Alder entered and grabbed his wife's wrist, stopping her in time before five red marks would stretch across Shion's cheeks. He directed to his daughter next, ranting, "Really, Shion. You need to control that temper of yours a little. Now, please be a nice princess and apologize. You wouldn't want to anger your future husband."

By this time, a different emotion had swarmed her. She was angered rather than irritated, and naturally, she retorted, "How many times must I tell you that I don't want any marriage? What are you trying to do? Sell your daughter or something?"

"SHION!" the king roared, raising a hand.

"My, my. Look at the person who'd just told me that I'll ruin her porcelain face."

Upon hearing that, King Alder composed himself again, though it was clear that his rage had not ceased at all. Throughout the whole conflict, Prince Aswad just stood there, still and silent, absorbing all the embarrassing little family quarrels, whom the participants themselves seemed oblivious to it. But too bad, as this quarrel was more than just little. And little did anyone expect that this would be the start of_ another_ bigger quarrel...

**~ ღ ~**

It was midnight. The yellow moon had been half asleep; dark penetrating clouds would shift to block off mild light shone by the moon every so often. By this time, everyone should be asleep; everyone including the King and Queen; everyone including Prince Aswad who'd lived far away from them; everyone but not the princess.

Princess Shion was all ready to leave. She did not like Prince Aswad one bit, much less than to marry him. Her endurance meter of no freedom for the past seventeen years had finally maxed out and busted, not to mention all the forced matchmaking sessions and their terrible outcomes each time. The princess turned to her one and only friend. "Ready, Kira?"

The Zorua gave a slight nod of its head and snuggled warmly into Shion's arms. Taking a deep breath, the princess jumped off the last metres from the balcony. It wasn't too high or too dangerous for her to escape in such a way.

She landed gracefully with a slight thud sound, thankful for the dance lessons she'd received before. She took a last glance back at the grey medieval walls. She'd actually jumped — finally. And finally, she was free. She tightened her grip, pulling over the vicuna coat over her body, making sure that Kira was warm under her.

Now, the question was: Where _should_ she go? Where _could_ she go? She didn't know. When she had jumped, she just felt that she needed to get away. She did not have a destination. But she kept wandering nonetheless, in fear of being caught by the royal guards and be brought back to that insipid castle again. She'd never wanted to return there, ever_ again_.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter Two

**Anon Review Replies...**_  
**Ranger Belle: **__Ooh! I'm actually so ashamed to say this but to be honest I didn't notice the resemblance had you not mentioned it. -.- Now that I think about it, they do look kind of similar. Haha. XD When I started this story, I just thought that N had always been the prince while Hilda is the regular one. Here, I've decided to switch their status. So um, there's no genie. Sorry if this has disappointed you... But I hope that you will still continue to read and enjoy this story! ^_^_**_  
__TPL254:_**_ Thank you! ^_^ I'll try my best to update every once a week or two, excluding the busy school stuff.  
_**_Guest: _**_I'm glad you love it! :3 Thanks a bunch!_

* * *

**Oh, Your Gracious**_**  
~ Chapter Two: My First Time ~**_

* * *

Its tears arrived without warning. The sky wept wistfully; agitated raindrops blotted the concrete pavement as it darkened, emitting a continual melody of pitter-patter. Flashes of white tore through the sky from time to time, bringing along thunderous cries that were enough to send sheer quivers to anyone who'd heard its raging roar. Even the luminous face of the saffron moon had masqueraded in fear within the murky rain.

The only permanent illumination was by the fluorescence lights of the street lamps that lined along the pavement, each shimmering delicately under darkness. Shops stood side by side, but since it was midnight, they were closed for the day, excluding the Pokémon Center and the Poké Mart — which were lined further down the streets. There were no cars on the road either; everything was solitary.

For a night as dull as such, any living soul would be discouraged from accomplishing anything. However, Princess Shion was an exception; she had just accomplished freedom, kind of. The princess stood in the middle of the water-soaked pavement. And with Kira still under the warm covers of her vicuna coat, she gazed up at the dark sky, ignoring the heaven's tears splattering on her face. Certainly, she did not expect the rain when she had ran away from the castle. _Of all things, I'd forgotten to bring along my umbrella..._

Shion diverted to Kira with a frown, complaining, "If only you can change into an umbrella instead..." The dark-type snorted in reply, expressing its unhappiness at the derisive remark, and turned away. "Oh, hey, that was a joke. Don't be mad," Shion apologized, smiling sheepishly. Kira stuck out its tongue and nudged its Trainer — a silent communication which told her that she was forgiven.

Amidst their bonding moment, a silhouette surfaced within the drab night. The contours of the shadow enlarged like Gastly materializing itself from the night's atmosphere as it approached the runaway twosome. It was nearing fast, stopping hastily before the princess; Shion jolted at the person's abrupt appearance.

An intense lightning struck across the sky, highlighting the person's chiseled features, only to be joined by a low humming moan a few seconds later. It was a young man around the age of nineteen. He stood tall before her, looking at her and her Pokémon with studious eyes before curving his lips into a smirk.

Lush green hair framed his creamy face, the tendrils cascading down the sides. He had a hair length almost as long as Shion's. But unlike her untied hair, his was loosely supported with a black band. They were — without a doubt — damp, causing him to look sloppy. However, that was all changed with his alluring grin. His new eyes of playful grey fixed deeply on her confused blue.

Kira, instead, just switched directions of its gaze, looking at Shion first, then at the mysterious man, back and forth, back and forth.

"Catch that thief!" a voice called from afar, barely dominating the sound of raindrops and thunders. This had broken their gaze, however, as Shion spun her head around in the direction of that voice, straining her eyes to see clearly in this type of weather. A bald man with beer belly, wearing a green uniform, swung his chubby arms frantically as he ran towards them. "Don't let him escape!"

Shion felt her eyes rounded, switching to face the young man again. "You're a—" Before she could finished her sentence, he grabbed her wrist roughly. "Wait—!"

But the man did not wait. He did not even give her a time to prepare. He just took off, practically dragging the princess to run with him. They were moving in such speed that Shion had lost her grip on Kira, forcing the latter to descend to the ground before running after its Trainer in tow. The group splashed their foot onto multiple build-up puddles as they ran, breaking its smooth surface like a distorted mirror and soaking their shoes in the process — in the Pokémon's case: bare feet.

"Get back here, you thieves!"

Clearly, the bald man was still chasing after them. Shion struggled to break free, yelling, "How did I end up being a thief?" The young man neither replied nor glanced back at her. At her failed attempts to release herself, she protested instead, "Let. Me. Go!"

Finally, the young man, without looking back, spoke his first words, "No can do. You'll be caught if I let you go now."

"I wouldn't be had you not dragged me!"

"He'll hold you responsible if I'd fled and you're still there anyway."

Shion had not understood the logics of the outside world — yet. After all, she hadn't left the castle that much, and even if she did, all she'd done was some shopping with Bianca. In curiosity, she asked, "Why's that so?"

"That's just how it works," the greenette explained vaguely, rolling his eyes. "Where have you been living all this while? Under a rock?

"No, I was living in a castle," the princess replied absentmindedly, completely oblivious to his sarcasm tone.

He rolled his eyes again. "That's not what I'd meant."

Another furious bolt of lightning flashed across, as if decapitating the sky. Shion saw, for the second time of that night, the man's gorgeous face. And yet, she thought that the feeling of running under the rain was new, this entirely alien feeling had enraptured her. Finally, she'd decided that it was futile to break free from his strong grasp. So instead, she chose to allow this stranger to guide her along in this grieving rain.

But not for long.

Shion knew that he was a thief; and they were dangerous, however good-looking they might be. "You should return whatever you'd stolen. I'll pay for it, at most."

"Why spend the money when you can get something for free?"

Shion stared in disbelief at the man before her, that one could say something like such so casually, as if he had done nothing wrong. She corrected for him, "Free by theft, you mean."

"Oh, don't fret the details."

"Fine. Then please... Let me go..." Shion uttered between pants, lowering her head. "I'm tired..." She'd confessed in such soft, sweet voice that one could just melt after hearing it. The young man followed her movement and scanned her tired expression, finally deciding that they _could_ stop. They'd already run past streets after streets, and the bald man's voice could no longer be heard anyway.

He released his grip on her, taking an abrupt stop at the back alley. The princess, instead, rammed onto his back upon his halt, her face tasting the salty water that lingered on his clothes. She paused for a moment to steady herself before taking a step back, kneeling over with hands on the knees, panting hard. Kira arrived just a minute later, lungs desperately gasping for oxygen as well.

The man whipped around and faced the princess, hands on his hips. "It's just a short run. I can't believe you got tired already."

"Just a _short_ run?" Shion repeated, voice inching an octave higher at the word _short_. Straightening her back, she narrowed at him, "That was my longest run yet! Courtesy to _you_."

He fixed lips into a mischievous smile, "Heh. Anytime."

"That was _not _supposed to be a compliment," Shion said, rolling her eyes. "Why did you even steal in the first place?"

"I'm hungry."

"Nonetheless, you shouldn't steal!"

"I have no money."

"But—"

"But can't you take pity on a street rat like me?" the greenette replied with a frown, bobbling his feet innocently.

Shion was stunned by his remark. _Street rat? He doesn't look like one... _she thought. And true enough, his clothing had said otherwise. He wore a black turtleneck shirt with another white shirt tugged over it, unbuttoned enough to show the distinct curves of his chiseled abs beneath. Tanned trousers flowed neatly down to his feet, which was covered comfortably by a pair of green trainers. "I don't believe you, not with that kind of outfit."

"Of course you don't," he smirked with a naughty glint. "I stole them. Naturally."

"Thief," the princess twitched her mouth in disgust; his replies had never failed to surprise her. She thought, _I can't believe it. He'd admitted that so willingly. Is he even remorseful for one second?_ The man frowned in response to her claim. Walking away, she posed, "I'm reporting you to Officer Jenny."

"Oh, wait!" He grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. Then, he pleaded innocently, "Don't you have sympathy, princess?"

Shion's eyes widened. "How'd you know I was a princess?"

"You didn't really think that you're a princess when I called you one, did you?" the man snickered, but burst out into a senseless laughter soon enough. "I mean, you really looked like a pampered princess with all your actions so far!"

_Oh great. He was just mocking me. _Shion was about to protest but chose to deny the fact that she was indeed a princess. The last thing she had wanted was to spill out her royal status to others and end up drawing attention to herself. She had much preferred it to be kept a secret. "Well, that doesn't change the fact that I'm reporting you to the police."

"C'mon! Don't be like that..."

"No."

"Don't force me."

The princess felt slightly intimidated by that new solemn tone of his voice, but kept her unfazed expression firmly. "Stealing isn't good."

"I will get rough if I have to," the greenette threatened, his expression had immediately changed from innocent to deadpan. Even his words were spoken in such deep, serious tone that it managed to cause Shion to swallow a tough gut. She didn't expect his mood swing. And neither did she know that such an angry expression existed in him. After all, he was still acting all childish until mere moments ago.

"I—"

He pinned her against the wall, disturbing the frail adhesive raindrops that had been clinging to the cob platform just a moment before, silencing her. Fear had flooded throughout her body. Suddenly, she felt that the man before her was more frightening than the reigning thunders. She hoped to scream for help, but no words could escape her throat. Never once had his intimidating grey gaze left her terrified cerulean blue.

_Shion, you're really stupid... Why the heck did you even try to provoke him? _the princess cursed herself, until another horrible thought swarmed her. _What if, he was actually a pervert... in disguise...?_

The two stood like such for the next few prickling seconds. Each rain drop that splattered across had only made the grim atmosphere more intense.

Kira decided to stand up and defend its master. However, the changing of the man's expression caused it to pause for an examination first. He grinned, "Gotcha! You should've seen your face!"

Shion gawked at the man, completely speechless, unsure whether to feel relief that he wasn't someone dangerous or be irritated that he had just scared the hell out of her. That _was _the first time she'd ever felt so frightened in her past seventeen years of existence, courtesy to the much comforts she had received from home.

"Oh, you're just so fun to tease~"

Shion felt a throbbing vein on her forehead, controlling herself _not _to kick his shins. However, she still felt uneasy around him after that experience; she was confused about whether to trust his words any longer. She warned herself, _I must be more careful around a capricious thief like him._

"Don't worry. It'll be a sin if I hurt you, _princess_," he said in a phony voice, especially mocking at the word _princess_.

_As if stealing isn't a sin, mind you, _Shion mused.

An idea suddenly struck the young man, to which he suggested, "Why don't we have a Pokémon battle instead? If I win, you'll let me off. And if you win... well, I won't steal anymore."

Shion bit her lip, taking a moment to ponder over his request before replying, "You're on." She didn't know why she had decided to accept this ridiculous challenge, but she felt that the idea of him not stealing anymore would be pleasing. _And,_ it would be a good way to escape from him. But was that just an excuse for her to have a battle instead?

_My first battle... This can be fun, _she smiled to herself. "Kira," she called. The dark-type groaned, clearly not taking a liking in battles. However, it ran forward in response to its master's frown, a foot into the puddle, sending small rings to echo through its reflective surface.

The greenette, instead, swiftly latched out a Poké Ball from his belt, flinging it into the cold air. Appearing from the contraption was, surprisingly, yet another Zorua. This Zorua did not take long to ready itself into a battle position, as if already knowing what to do before any command was given by its Trainer.

It gritted its teeth as it saw Kira, its opponent, clearly pumped for a battle. Kira — rather than feeling frightened — just dug a tiny foot into its mane, scratching and looking away, showing its uninterested side. This, however, had only caused the other Zorua to feel taunted. "Meet Pratt, my dearest companion. We sure have the same Pokémon, huh?"

Shion wasn't sure if that question was directed at her or her Pokémon, but she decided to respond anyway. "My Kira is a female. They're not the same in any way."

"Really? Mine's a male," the greenette confessed, tilting his head.

The princess found it excruciatingly funny that she'd actually know the name of _his Pokémon_ when she didn't even knew _his_ own name. But neither had he knew hers too, so she shrugged it off.

At the next flash of lightning, they commenced the battle, both Trainers showing their firm resolved of wanting to win the battle. "Kira, use Scratch!" The fox Pokémon did as told, charging forward as sharp claws emerged from her red paws.

"Counter with Faint Attack," the male Trainer offered coolly. All this while, Kira thought that she had her eyes fixed on Pratt. However, the latter suddenly disappeared from her line of sight, causing her to stop in her tracks. Pratt slammed on top of her back as he resurfaced behind her, causing a shriek of pain to escape Kira's mouth.

Without sparing her a break, Pratt attempted to kick her yet again. Kira, however, was neither a fool to fall for a trick twice. She shot up immediately and dodged it in time. By then, she was fueled with the urge to battle, wanting vengeance. The two Pokémon shot each other glares of imaginary balls of fire as they waited impatiently for their Trainer's next command.

"Kira, try using Shadow Ball!" Kira leaped and opened her mouth; dark gales of energy swirled and concentrated in front of it, soon combining to form a large violet orb.

"Fake Tears, please." Tiny tears brimmed in Pratt's eyes. He frowned deeply and even went as far as to weep silent sobs. From the corners of her eyes, Kira saw those painful tears and hesitated to fire her well-prepared Shadow Ball. The greenette smirked, commanding, "Night Daze, now!"

The tears had amazingly dried off as Pratt mimicked his Trainer's smug.

Raising his front two paws, he growled violently, his eyes glowing bright blue as hot crimson aura enveloped his entire diminutive body; energy leaked out like flames dancing in the night sky, sending off gales of bleak wind. Then, he hammered down his furious paws, guiding the force field of scarlet energy to the ground, spreading it like wildfire throughout the battlefield. The vibrations were strong enough to have Kira repelled back to her Trainer's feet in mere seconds.

Shion merely shook under its immense power while the young man just maintained his stance, eyes fixed solely on the battle.

"We're taking this battle! Finish it with Faint Attack!" he continued, flinging a hand out to the side. Pratt sneaked up behind the weak Kira and gave her a final, powerful kick, sending her crashing towards the cob walls before falling off with a thud.

Shion was taken aback by the man's vicious attacks under that soft façade. Looks could truly be deceiving... She cluttered to her Pokémon, picking her up from the ground. _That was certainly not fun at all... _she thought.

"Heh. You really _are_ a princess aren't you?" the greenette asked. "You seemed really inexperienced."

Shion snapped, narrowing at him, "I would appreciate it if you don't get too cocky after a win." But as much as she hated to admit, what he'd said was... not wrong. Kira had always been pampered all this while, so for her to win a sudden battle without any training seemed pretty impossible in the first place.

"Oh well, as promised, you'll let me off!" he chuckled. Shion frowned in disapproval of the idea but she'd lost the bet, so she _had_ to give in... "Oh, and about your Kira, we can heal it at the Pokémon Center. It's not far from here."

**~ ღ ~**

The red light flashed off, signaling the success of recovery. Nurse Joy appeared from the health room with a tray holding two Zoruas, both looking rejuvenated. "Your Pokémon are nursed to health! All up and coming!" she beamed as she walked towards Shion and the young man.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" the two Trainers said in unison.

Kira jumped off the tray first, springing towards her Trainer into a warm hug; well, not really, since Shion was still drenched from all that previous rain. Pratt, instead, walked proudly towards his Trainer, stopping just before his feet. The man lowered his knees and patted his Zorua.

"Nurse Joy, do you think I can rent a room for tonight?" Shion asked politely.

"Of course, my dear. We have a vacant room left. I'm sure you two can share."

Shion arched an eyebrow. _Share? _She looked at the man before returning a stare at the nurse. "Whoa. No way am I sharing with him! We're not acquaintances."

"We're not?" the man grimaced. "After all that?"

"We're strangers. And, for starters, I don't even know your name!"

"Well, the name's Natural Harmonia Gropius," he grinned. "There! You have it! Now, can we share?" He was pleading like a small kid asking for candy.

Shion blinked profusely. "Wow. That name was..."

"Heh. It fits me well, don't you think?"

"... weird."

The man, now known as Natural, rolled his eyes for what felt like the third time of that night. He almost drooped upon her remark; a sad frown painted his expression as he asserted, "You're _supposed_ to say it's unique."

Shion faked a cough. "Who in the_ right mind_ would give their child such names?"

Kira stiffed a snicker upon that remark while Pratt growled, clearly not delighted that they had just mocked his Trainer's name. Natural just groaned instead, "That's mean of you, petty _princess_."

"My _name_ is Shion."

The greenette's eyes rounded. "Who in the _right mind_ would name you Shion?"

"_Excuse me?_"

"For as far as I can remember, Shion is supposed to be a gentle name, fit for a princess. But you look more like rowdy girl, close to a Mankey, in fact."

This time, Shion really kicked his shins – hard. No one had insulted her name before. Only praises of it being beautiful were heard, but never that. She found it disturbingly strange. She found _him_ disturbingly strange. Given her circumstances, she had never met anyone ruder than him; everyone had been nice to her, giving her the respect she deserved as a princess, until he became the only exception. Not like he did know that she was one. Or was that just his way of getting back at her for mocking his name just now?

"Ow!" He jumped, cupping his bruised leg. "See? That'd just proved my point!"

"You're seriously irritating..." Shion admitted; a vein pulsated on her forehead. "Get away from me, thief."

"Thief is not my name," he pouted.

"Neither is princess," she retorted. "And I refuse to call you Natural. It's just weird. _Too_ weird. And _too _long."

"Then what are you gonna call me?"

"N."

"N? Just a freaking letter?"

"Yes. And it sounds _way_ better than Natural Harmonia Gropius."

"No it's not. How did my beautiful name end up being just a single alphabet?"

"Well, I named it. Duh."

"That's not sensible."

"You're not sensible anyway."

"_You're_ not sensible."

"No, _you're_ not."

"No, _you're_ not."

. . .

Their bickering continued on and on, as if the two would ever get tired and sleep for the rest of the night. Looks like the room would remain vacant for the night after all.

And this was just the beginning...

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
